Philippines in June

yankwin said:
Wu 11:9 Jericho Banares

Wu Chia-Ching is the champion. Wu came back from 4:7.
It will be ignorant if someone still think taiwanese can't play 10-ball......



Wu can definitely play, flat out 8-9 or 10 ball, but he beat an 18 year old, while the other Filipino big guns (Alex, Efren, Django, Ronnie, Gomez, Orcullo) is in another tournament. I can't say the same for the other Taiwanese players like Chang who's been dominating the Guinness tour for two years now but bombed out in this tournament.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Woke up this morning, nice weather, real sunny, not raining like the other days. We decided to go to the mall to see the matches, and then perhaps head for the beach.

We saw that both Pagulayan and Gomez lost their semifinals, and then we didn't want to stay for the final between G. Valle (who won) and Orcullo. We went to the hotel for some sleep instead, long night the night before.

When I wake up 2 hours later, at 5 in the afternoon, it was raining like crazy and the wind was real fast and strong outside. Got the news that 17 people had died in north Cebu because of the bad weather, and that the boat between Manila and Cebu had turned upside-down and more than 700 people died. As far as I know only 4 people survived the trip... Truly a sad day here in Cebu.

Right now there is nice weather here in Cebu again, and we will book our flights for Tuesday I think. All flights were cancelled/delayed Sunday, and only a few will go Monday I believe. I heard there is still really bad weather in Manila, but not sure. Didn't quite understand the newschannel since some of the information is in Tagalog and some in English.

Be safe Roy. It was bad in Manila as well. A huge typhoon went thru there yesterday.
 
jay helfert said:
Be safe Roy. It was bad in Manila as well. A huge typhoon went thru there yesterday.

That same storm is heading our way now. In a couple of hours, we will know if it passes us by or head-on. :eek:

Fortunately, it has weakened to about 80km/h compared to the 125km/h winds when it criss-crossed the Philippines. :(
 
finally! accidentally met the dynamic duo in action-hehehe :thumbup:
you guys look fabulous even after being beaten-up by sharks in cebu, GF's in albay/masbate... :eek:
 
Can't sleep. It's 4 at night here in Subic Bay, about 3 hours outside Metro Manila. It's really hot here, and I have been on the beach all day, swimming in the ocean. Can hardly feel the difference on the temperature in the sea as on land. Nice!

So, what's happened since my last update?

I have experienced watching the Alex Pagulayan/Roberto Gomez show in Cebu, at Bravio. Alex was singing, dansing and joking while playing rotation (losing) against Alcano, then continued in the same way at the pokertables. Gomez is the same kind of guy as Alex, always joking around, but still not as much as Alex. Luckily, some would say, because one Alex is sometimes way too much :D (Later in that evening Alex and Gomez entered the scene and song Guns N'Roses songs)

We, Chris and I, have played a minitournament at Bravio, with players such as Gomez, Pena, Joven Bustamante, Mike Hilton, + 2 others I can't remember right now. race to 5, 9-ball, double elimination, 10 000 pesos for 1st, 2 000 pesos for second. Certainly enough to make the stars wants to win, since a job at a restaurant in Manila pays like 250 pesos a day...

I got a chance for a rematch against Pena, but lost 5-3. Chris beat Pena, then J. Bustamante 5-4, before losing 5-2 to Gomez in the final.

That same night I ended up playing poker for several hours, and I happened to be on the same table as Efren. What can I say about this guy that people does not know already? He really loves gambling, and he went crazy when we decided to do sidebets on some of the hands. He turned around to the spectators: "what is happening to this world, now we have sidebets even in poker!!?"

Small sidebets only, just 10-20 and 50 pesos, but that didn't stop Efren from acting as the winnings or losings were like the most he has ever played for in his whole life. He laughed and screamed and high-fived to people if he won small pots, or the 10 pesos sidebets, and he almost cried when he lost. He sure hates to lose, and he got real angry on me when I bluffed a pot to my victory. (It lasted for 10 seconds, then he smiled again)

Back in Manila I have played some 9-ball with handicap against Jharome, lost again. Then we decided to play one-pocket even, and I should have won, had my chances, but lost 3-2.

I have also had the pleasure of meeting Thorsten Hohmann and friends, at Fusion Poolhall, and we played some friendly 14-1 and 10-ball for a couple of hours. I recommend people to read thorstenhohmann.blogspot.com for updates about Toastie's trip to the tournament in Palawan.

Was supposed to be in Quezon City for the boxing match with Pacman, got invited by Verna and Perry Mariano, but I stayed for almost 20 hours with my head in the toilet bowl that day... The day I got sick was the day after I went to a real nice, recommended, well-knowned restaurant (TGI's Fridays)... Gonna stick to Tapsilog, Gambas, soups, rice and nudles the rest of the trip...

Still gonna be in the Philippines for almost one more week. Few of the top pros are here now because of the Qatar 9-ball Open, but the action is waiting for us at One Side/Fusion when we get back to Manila.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Can't sleep. It's 4 at night here in Subic Bay, about 3 hours outside Metro Manila. It's really hot here, and I have been on the beach all day, swimming in the ocean. Can hardly feel the difference on the temperature in the sea as on land. Nice!

So, what's happened since my last update?

I have experienced watching the Alex Pagulayan/Roberto Gomez show in Cebu, at Bravio. Alex was singing, dansing and joking while playing rotation (losing) against Alcano, then continued in the same way at the pokertables. Gomez is the same kind of guy as Alex, always joking around, but still not as much as Alex. Luckily, some would say, because one Alex is sometimes way too much :D (Later in that evening Alex and Gomez entered the scene and song Guns N'Roses songs)

We, Chris and I, have played a minitournament at Bravio, with players such as Gomez, Pena, Joven Bustamante, Mike Hilton, + 2 others I can't remember right now. race to 5, 9-ball, double elimination, 10 000 pesos for 1st, 2 000 pesos for second. Certainly enough to make the stars wants to win, since a job at a restaurant in Manila pays like 250 pesos a day...

I got a chance for a rematch against Pena, but lost 5-3. Chris beat Pena, then J. Bustamante 5-4, before losing 5-2 to Gomez in the final.

That same night I ended up playing poker for several hours, and I happened to be on the same table as Efren. What can I say about this guy that people does not know already? He really loves gambling, and he went crazy when we decided to do sidebets on some of the hands. He turned around to the spectators: "what is happening to this world, now we have sidebets even in poker!!?"

Small sidebets only, just 10-20 and 50 pesos, but that didn't stop Efren from acting as the winnings or losings were like the most he has ever played for in his whole life. He laughed and screamed and high-fived to people if he won small pots, or the 10 pesos sidebets, and he almost cried when he lost. He sure hates to lose, and he got real angry on me when I bluffed a pot to my victory. (It lasted for 10 seconds, then he smiled again)

Back in Manila I have played some 9-ball with handicap against Jharome, lost again. Then we decided to play one-pocket even, and I should have won, had my chances, but lost 3-2.

I have also had the pleasure of meeting Thorsten Hohmann and friends, at Fusion Poolhall, and we played some friendly 14-1 and 10-ball for a couple of hours. I recommend people to read thorstenhohmann.blogspot.com for updates about Toastie's trip to the tournament in Palawan.

Was supposed to be in Quezon City for the boxing match with Pacman, got invited by Verna and Perry Mariano, but I stayed for almost 20 hours with my head in the toilet bowl that day... The day I got sick was the day after I went to a real nice, recommended, well-knowned restaurant (TGI's Fridays)... Gonna stick to Tapsilog, Gambas, soups, rice and nudles the rest of the trip...

Still gonna be in the Philippines for almost one more week. Few of the top pros are here now because of the Qatar 9-ball Open, but the action is waiting for us at One Side/Fusion when we get back to Manila.

Roy, you are DA MAN.

I like your reports and laughed out loud when I read that Efren almost cries when he loses a small side bet and that he got angry with you when you bluffed him out of a pot. :lol:

JoeyA
 
Thanks for all the updates,Roy! From all of us who live our lives vicariously through yours....
 
Yesterday I finally got a chance to visit Side Pocket again, the actionroom in Quezon City. It's probably the worst poolroom I have ever been to, the equipment is real bad (except 3 Metro Tables), the clothes are old, dirty and slow, it's real smoky inside, the people are noisy, and there are lots of people in there, just watching the matches 3 feets away from the tables.

The waitresses here are not young, sexy and well-dressed like on One Side, and here they do not shout out Welcome in Japanese to every customer that visits. The waitresses at Side Pocket are very old, but friendly. Here it is all about pool.

I love the atmosphere at Side Pocket. It's all about pool and gambling, and the players who can handle these conditions can handle everything. This is the place where up and coming Filipinos plays, and learns the game. However, Side Pocket is not for everyone. If you are a typical tournament player that complains if the table is not perfectly levelled, or if the 7-ball is Aramith while the other balls are not, well, then don't visit Side Pocket. It will do you no good.

The first time we visited Side Pocket we were told not to go there without knowing anyone, and I believe that is true also today, but perhaps some locals can tell if times have changed.

Unfortunately there are not so many people at Fusion and One Side because of the Qatar Philippines Open. Eh, Qatar World Open, I meant. One Side and Fusion are typical action rooms for the TOP players, so without them, there are not so many backers and b-players. Then they go to Side Pocket and other rooms.

At Side Pocket we met Jharome Pena, who looked like a mafioso with a typical 1930's hat ;)

I was immidieately asked by someone to play, but I declined, wanted to wait a little. Had played some one-pocket at One Side earlier, and didn't play good, so was not 100 %. Watched Johann Chua play against a kid (Johann is 16 himself, but he played someone younger). Johann gave him 9-10, race to 12, and I believe he won. I don't know for sure, because after a while I wanted to play.

I asked Jharome to play some one-pocket, but he declined and said I should play Carlo Biado, an up and coming Bugsy player aswell.

We played race to 4, and it was obviously he was new to one-pocket. It was fun watching such a good player learn something after every shot, and he soon put me in traps. I played bad against Carlo aswell, and when he got open shots he punished me with running all 8. He played so good position, and had so perfect speed control that it was a joy to watch, so we ended up playing another set aswell. In this set he played the cueball 6 rails to get position on his last ball. I thought he was forced to bank a ball, because the rest of the balls were really close to my pocket, but he put the cueball just in between two balls where there were only room for the cueball. The most admiring part of the shot was that he did like Efren, pointing with his cue where the cueball would hit the last rail, then fired away... Lost the last set 4-0. I just sponsored another Bugsy player :)

Chris has been to Philippines 4 times but he has never wanted to play at Side Pocket. He got lucky and got on one of the 3 good tables, and was 5-1 up against a local race to 9, but lost 9-6. The other player had early 9-ball combinations 5 times during that match, and he really laughed and joked and said how lucky he was.

No pool today. Perhaps going back to Side Pocket tomorrow.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Yesterday I finally got a chance to visit Side Pocket again, the actionroom in Quezon City. It's probably the worst poolroom I have ever been to, the equipment is real bad (except 3 Metro Tables), the clothes are old, dirty and slow, it's real smoky inside, the people are noisy, and there are lots of people in there, just watching the matches 3 feets away from the tables.

The waitresses here are not young, sexy and well-dressed like on One Side, and here they do not shout out Welcome in Japanese to every customer that visits. The waitresses at Side Pocket are very old, but friendly. Here it is all about pool.

I love the atmosphere at Side Pocket. It's all about pool and gambling, and the players who can handle these conditions can handle everything. This is the place where up and coming Filipinos plays, and learns the game. However, Side Pocket is not for everyone. If you are a typical tournament player that complains if the table is not perfectly levelled, or if the 7-ball is Aramith while the other balls are not, well, then don't visit Side Pocket. It will do you no good.

The first time we visited Side Pocket we were told not to go there without knowing anyone, and I believe that is true also today, but perhaps some locals can tell if times have changed.

Unfortunately there are not so many people at Fusion and One Side because of the Qatar Philippines Open. Eh, Qatar World Open, I meant. One Side and Fusion are typical action rooms for the TOP players, so without them, there are not so many backers and b-players. Then they go to Side Pocket and other rooms.

At Side Pocket we met Jharome Pena, who looked like a mafioso with a typical 1930's hat ;)

I was immidieately asked by someone to play, but I declined, wanted to wait a little. Had played some one-pocket at One Side earlier, and didn't play good, so was not 100 %. Watched Johann Chua play against a kid (Johann is 16 himself, but he played someone younger). Johann gave him 9-10, race to 12, and I believe he won. I don't know for sure, because after a while I wanted to play.

I asked Jharome to play some one-pocket, but he declined and said I should play Carlo Biado, an up and coming Bugsy player aswell.

We played race to 4, and it was obviously he was new to one-pocket. It was fun watching such a good player learn something after every shot, and he soon put me in traps. I played bad against Carlo aswell, and when he got open shots he punished me with running all 8. He played so good position, and had so perfect speed control that it was a joy to watch, so we ended up playing another set aswell. In this set he played the cueball 6 rails to get position on his last ball. I thought he was forced to bank a ball, because the rest of the balls were really close to my pocket, but he put the cueball just in between two balls where there were only room for the cueball. The most admiring part of the shot was that he did like Efren, pointing with his cue where the cueball would hit the last rail, then fired away... Lost the last set 4-0. I just sponsored another Bugsy player :)

Chris has been to Philippines 4 times but he has never wanted to play at Side Pocket. He got lucky and got on one of the 3 good tables, and was 5-1 up against a local race to 9, but lost 9-6. The other player had early 9-ball combinations 5 times during that match, and he really laughed and joked and said how lucky he was.

No pool today. Perhaps going back to Side Pocket tomorrow.
Oooops, from the frying pan into the fire! LOL! Am glad that you're having a good time.......for cheap too.
 
bandido, Edwin. Please empty your msg inbox folder so I can send you a private msg, thanks:)
 
Some much deserved rep to you, roy. (sorry, i just learned how to do it now :p)
 
The other day we went back to Side Pocket again, since One Side is pretty slow because of the Qatar-tournament. (It's still possible to get all the games you need at One Side, but not so fun without all the pro's hanging around).

Side Pocket was packed, and every table was taken. We got asked immediately if we wanted games, and I declined a one-pocket offer from an old guy, and just wanted to wait and watch some of the action. Chris decided to play the guy he lost to the other day.

After maybe one hour I got in action against a guy called Allan, and we played 9-ball for 1000 pesos race to 11. I got the 7-9. I lost 11-5, and didn't want more of that action. In the meantime Chris had lost the first set, and was now winning the second set.

I headed over to Jharome and negotiated, and we decided to play one set of one-pocket even, and one set of 10-ball race to 9, with me getting 7-8-10. I lost the one-pocket match, but won the 10-ball match hill-hill, so we broke even.

Chris lost the third and last set in 10-ball, and decided to play one set of one-pocket with Jharome before we went back to the hotel. Jharome won that match, so 500 pesos for him, plus 200 pesos from me. (Sidebet).

On the table next to Chris and Jharome there were some heavy action going on, between 2 players playing 10-ball. Maybe 30-40 people were standing around the table, making lots of noise, and doing sidebets before each rack. When I say standing around the table I mean standing next to the table, leaning against it. So when the player has to move himself around the table, the people will have to move back a foot or two to make room for him to shoot. When he goes to another part of the table, the crowd goes right back to the table. It?s pretty amazing to watch, and you can understand why they can handle pressure so well. Especially when you know that before each rack the guy who is breaking has to wait till every side bet on next rack has been made, before he is allowed to break.

The way they do these sidebets is quite amazing. In this match one of the player were called Maki, and if you want to bet on this guy you have to shout out loud Maki, Maki, Maki, Maki and wave with your hands till someone wants to bet against you. Then you show with your fingers how many hundreds of pesos you want to bet, and when the shouting and waving around the table disappears, the next rack can start. Those 30-40 people around that match made so much noise between every rack, and you could hear people cheer and laugh after every shot, fluke or miss from the players. I joined the sidebets for 2 racks, 100 pesos each time. Won and lost. Felt pretty stupid when I waved like crazy and shouted out Maki for 30 seconds before I got the approval from a guy in a yellow t-shirt. lol

Imagine what it looked like when Alex and Dennis played race to 21 in rotation for 200 000 pesos at Side Pocket. I wish I was there! Alex won 21-20, by the way...

Another interesting part of the life in a poolhall in the Philippines is that you will notice that there are a "spotter"/referee on every table, even for money matches as low as 500 pesos.

The spotter's tasks are to rack the balls, keep the score, be referee on shots, and clean the balls and the table when necessary. And it is often necessary to clean the cloth. Here they only play with cueball-foul only, so the spotter is using chalk to mark the balls around the table, just in case they get moved by your hand during a shot. Then he will just put the balls back on its original spot. After a couple of racks the cloth is more white than green if you don?t have a spotter to keep it clean. The spotter is normally paid 10 % of the bet, (200 pesos if the bet is 2000), if not the amount is agreed on before the match. This is more common on bigger matches. (Spotter will not get 2500 pesos on 25000 matches).

A job as waitress at for example One Side is paid with 250-350 pesos, so being a spotter for a 3,5 hours match can be worth the same as a 12-hours shift for the girl who serves the drinks to the players.

When talking about the waitresses, I have to mention the tipping policy here in the Philippines. I don?t know if it is normal everywhere, but I have noticed that it's not like at home. At one restaurant/hotel it was not allowed to tip the waiters and waitresses. You had to tip in the reception if you wanted to tip. I didn?t tip at this place then, because of what I had heard of the tipping policy at One Side.

At One Side the entire tip goes to the Japanese owner, and he will then decide what the workers will get, if they get any at all. So if you are very pleased with the work of one of them, and would like to tip some extra for good service, it's pointless. Vanessa, who used to work at One Side during my first visit to Philippines, told me about when she worked almost 2 days straight, with no breaks, because the boxer Manny ?Pacman? were playing heavy actiongames against another rich guy. So One Side didn?t close for 2 days, and she worked all the time. Pacman was happy about her job and tipped her 3000 pesos. She had to give the tip to the owner, and she never saw it...

Well, now I am finally back home. Been 3 weeks in the Philippines, and I have enjoyed most part of it, as usual. But I have really missed Norwegian food the last 1,5 weeks. My stomach has not been well, and I am not feeling too good now either. I am really looking forward to eat normal food again :)

JoeyInCali; No, I never tasted Balot (sp?). It looks everything but delicious, and the sound the people make when they suck that little dead grey animal out of that egg is just terrible!!! :eek:
 
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I am actually feeling sad already because I have left this beautiful country. There is no doubt that I have fallen in love with the Philippines, it?s people, the smiles and all the laughter, the food, the climate and of course the poolrooms.

There is no doubt that Manila, and especially One Side, is the BEST action place in the world. I can?t think of another pool room where there is non-stop action going on. If a table is used, there is guaranteed action on it. There are referees for all tables, and there is one guy who takes care of all the sidebets. If you want to bet on any given player at one of the tables, you give the money to him and he will try to find someone that likes the other player. This guy, Oscar, also has lots of great stories about Efren and pool since he has been involved in pool for probably the last 30-40 years.

You can always get a game at One Side, for any price. If you want to bet high, they will welcome you with open arms. If you want to play cheap, even then you are guaranteed action 24 hours a day. If you just want to sweat the action, they still love you, but be prepared for players coming your way every 3 minutes trying to get a game with you.

If you are lucky, you can play World Champion after World Champion, for small amounts, or you can play the unknown up and coming players. If you don?t know by names or faces who the champs are, you will often find it hard to tell the difference just by judging their skills.

Very, very few will turn down your offer to play, most of the time it will be you asking for a pause because you can?t handle more action. If you should happen to run into someone who actually turns down your offer, they will make sure to find someone else that will play you, don?t worry!

Manila and One Side should definitely be visited at least once in every pool player?s life.

However, if you think you can?t handle to walk past children and babies sleeping at the street, just outside the door from One Side all the way to the hotel, you should reconsider.

The downside of the Philippines is all the poverty, and I don?t think One Side is located in the best area of the city. There are so many children?s begging you for food and money, and you know you can?t help all of them, so you can?t do anything but keep going with a tale of kids with tears in their eyes behind you.

If you can get used to watch lots of big fat rats running between these people sleeping at the street, and if you think you will have no problem with the smell of the broken pipes from under the streets, you will probably have a good time in Manila.

If you can handle this, and know how to not get sick if you might run into a desperate hungry mum offering you their young underage daughter for the night in exchange for some money, well, then you have passed the test and can book your tickets and enjoy your stay.

Manila will change your life, one way or another.

I'll definitely be back!

For those of you who consider to go, I will recommend to book a hotel in Quezon City. Nice area with lots of restaurants, bars, hotels, shopping malls and also a couple of poolhalls, and only 200 pesos with taxi to Mabini Street in Malate, where One Side is located. (Taxi takes 25 minutes or 2 hours, depends on rush, so don't travel between 3-8 in the afternoon/evening.)

If you have the chance to spend some time in either Palawan or Boracay for a weekend or so, you should definitely give it a try. I have not been on either of these places yet, but have promised myself to go there on my next visit, since "everyone" is recommending it.
 
Glad you had fun. Manila is definitely a great place to go and play/watch pool. But you are right about the "culture shock."
 
The one question I have Roy is the smoking. All my Filipino friends are big smokers. I myself am allergic to it. I intend to go there in October for the tournament. I hear there is no smoking in the tournament but it might be brutal in the after hours joint.
 
One quick Oscar-story about Efren and the 70/80's before I am heading for bed, after travelling around the world.

Oscar and Efren were travelling together and they decided to join a tournament in something Oscar called English Billiards. (Got points for making a ball, caroming in another, scratching etc.) They hadn't played the game before, but with their skills they still decided to join the tournament that coming days.

So, a day or two before it starts a gentleman wants to matchup with them for 300 $, which was a HUGE amount in the Philippines at that time. Oscar happily backed Efren in this match, looking for some easy money.

It turned out that Efren played very bad in this match, and he lost the set, and Oscar didn't want to back him anymore. He then asked Efren why he had played so bad, and Efren told him that he had missed on purpose so he could learn the tactics and the moves the other player used, so he could copy them to be better prepared for the tournament. Ofcourse Oscar got angry about this, since it was his money, and they were not talking much to eachother for the rest of that weekend.

But at the end of the weekend Efren won that tournament, and he paid Oscar the 300 $ back right away, and they are still friends today ;)

Oscar also told us that he doesn't believe there will ever be another player with so much talent and skills like Efren, because as he says: the players of today only play 9-ball and 10-ball. Efren played rotation and 3-cushion, and was forced to learn how to kick, bank, carom balls etc. He then added that when Efren practised rotation, he used 2 sets of balls, so he had 31 balls on the table. First you make the 2 1-balls, then the 2 2-balls... I don't believe there will be another Efren either...
 
yobagua said:
The one question I have Roy is the smoking. All my Filipino friends are big smokers. I myself am allergic to it. I intend to go there in October for the tournament. I hear there is no smoking in the tournament but it might be brutal in the after hours joint.

I have never had problems with being at One Side, because the air-con is so good there. Of course they smoke there also, but I have never been bothered of it, and it is not "destroying" the clothes.

At Fusion Poolhall it gets a little worse, much because of not so good air-con.

You don't even need to consider going to Side Pocket... :(
 
Roy Steffensen said:
For those of you who consider to go, I will recommend to book a hotel in Quezon City. Nice area with lots of restaurants, bars, hotels, shopping malls and also a couple of poolhalls, and only 200 pesos with taxi to Mabini Street in Malate, where One Side is located. (Taxi takes 25 minutes or 2 hours, depends on rush, so don't travel between 3-8 in the afternoon/evening.)

Good recommendation Roy! I've stayed in Quezon City from the 2 visits I made to the Philippines and it is definitely a much better place to be in comparison to where One Side is. I've been to One Side area as well. The area of One Side is the 'Red Light District' of Manila and, as its very nature suggests, the allure of 'easy money' perennially attract 'interesting characters'. For those planning a visit and prefer a business/residential district setting, Quezon City is a much better place to be. The Makati area is preferable but will definitely cost more. Makati and Quezon City are parts of Manila that would have facilities closest to western standards and thus, not as culturally shocking for first time visitors. Like Roy said, once you get the 'hang-of-it' and look past beyond Manila's shortcomings and imperfections, it is the warmth of the people that makes you feel at home.

Roy, your story of the waitress in One Side pulling a 48-hour shift and not seeing a penny that Manny Pacquiao gave is just totally heartbreaking. Assuming the story is accurate (I hope it is not), stuff like that does not sit well for the low income earners such as the waitress. That owner could be a sitting duck once he steps out of his comfort zone . Adding the fact that the owner is Japanese, even makes things worse because of WWII. In my past posts, I noted the colonial occupation for centuries of the Philippines and the subsequent Japanese invasion of WWII are events that are still fresh in the minds of many Filipinos. To be treated that way in your own birth country by a foreigner that is in some ways a former enemy brings back decades of animosity. I hope, Manny P. gets wind of what happened and discuss the issue with One Side's owner and get things right. That simply is not good employment, much less humanitarian policy.
 
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Roy Steffensen said:
One quick Oscar-story about Efren and the 70/80's before I am heading for bed, after travelling around the world.

Oscar and Efren were travelling together and they decided to join a tournament in something Oscar called English Billiards. (Got points for making a ball, caroming in another, scratching etc.) They hadn't played the game before, but with their skills they still decided to join the tournament that coming days.

So, a day or two before it starts a gentleman wants to matchup with them for 300 $, which was a HUGE amount in the Philippines at that time. Oscar happily backed Efren in this match, looking for some easy money.

It turned out that Efren played very bad in this match, and he lost the set, and Oscar didn't want to back him anymore. He then asked Efren why he had played so bad, and Efren told him that he had missed on purpose so he could learn the tactics and the moves the other player used, so he could copy them to be better prepared for the tournament. Ofcourse Oscar got angry about this, since it was his money, and they were not talking much to eachother for the rest of that weekend.

But at the end of the weekend Efren won that tournament, and he paid Oscar the 300 $ back right away, and they are still friends today ;)

Oscar also told us that he doesn't believe there will ever be another player with so much talent and skills like Efren, because as he says: the players of today only play 9-ball and 10-ball. Efren played rotation and 3-cushion, and was forced to learn how to kick, bank, carom balls etc. He then added that when Efren practised rotation, he used 2 sets of balls, so he had 31 balls on the table. First you make the 2 1-balls, then the 2 2-balls... I don't believe there will be another Efren either...

Thanks for all the sharing, Roy! I look forward to hearing more stories from Oscar!
 
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